Primal Growth

This Kills Your Transplants 🌱
If you’re new to growing, this is an important lesson:
Ease your transplants into outdoor conditions.
Start with about an hour outside each day, then slowly work your way up to 8+ hours.
I’ve gotten away with doing it faster, and yes, the plants survive — but for me, they never thrive like the ones I properly harden off.
It seems like the plants I take my time with establish faster and deal with fewer pest and disease issues.
Even plants from the garden center benefit from this. Most are grown in greenhouses and then placed on shaded shelves before being sold.
A little extra care now will pay off with a bigger harvest later.
Hopefully this helps 🌱
Grow Strong 💪

Why Your Apple Tree Doesn’t Produce Apples Every Year 🍎
Most apple trees, if not thinned properly, will produce a huge crop one year and very little the next.
This happens because the tree puts a ton of energy into producing all the fruit from the flowers that were pollinated.
As a result, many apple trees don’t store enough energy to form flower buds for the following season.
This isn’t true for every apple tree or variety, but if your tree produces heavily one year and barely anything the next, this is likely why.
Hope this helps 🌱
Grow Strong 💪

Why I train Fruit Trees into an Open Vase Shape
This method works great for a young whip like this. If the tree is older, it may require some different techniques.
You don’t have to grow your trees this way — it’s simply a training style that I think works really well for plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, and some dwarf apple trees.
After making the heading cut about 2–3 feet off the ground, new branches will begin forming from the buds below the cut.
These new branches can then be trained to become the scaffold branches for the open vase growing style.
You’ll want these branches growing at roughly a 45–60 degree angle.
This growing style allows more sunlight and airflow into the tree. It also makes the tree easier to harvest from and much easier to maintain long-term.
Better airflow and sunlight pe*******on help reduce disease pressure and improve fruit quality.
I also think they look pretty awesome around the homestead.
Any questions? Don’t be shy
Grow Strong 💪